Can't boot windows 8.1 from both SSD and HDD after cloning

Versalin

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Mar 30, 2013
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Hi guys, i think i messed up bad, big time.

I bought a new Samsung evo 500gb SSD, happily cloned it, and tried booting it, didn't work first time.

so i took unplugged my old hdd, left the SSD in it, and it booted to windows. HOWEVER, it crashed when i tried to start google chrome. when i tried to restart, i kept getting blue screen and couldn't boot back into windows.

i plugged in my HDD back, and tried to boot from it, but i get blue screen. even after taking out ssd and leaving only HDD inside, it keeps going blue screen for me.

now my biggest problem is that i can't restore windows since i lost my old windows 8 pro CD.

are both my SSD and my HDD gone for good? is there a way to format both? i'm thinking of doing a fresh install but i can't get either to boot properly.

I'm also thinking of buying a USB to SATA adapter to connect to my laptop so i can format both my HDD and SSD, maybe that way i can do a clean install.

anyone got this problem before? any help or tips much appreciated
 
What program did you use to clone it?Some migration tools change boot settings so this could have messed things up.
Your HDD should still be ok,it just might have to be plugged into a different sata port or might have to change settings in the bios.

Leave only the ssd in the system then you can legally download windows 8.1 from microsoft and using the usb/dvd tool boot into the recovery,you will have to follow a guide to repair/create the bcdstore on your ssd so that your system knows where windows is so it can boot.
 

Versalin

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Mar 30, 2013
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Hi i used the samsung migration tool to clone my os to my ssd.

I tried your method but i cant even get into the recovery. i left only the ssd in it, spammed the f8 key, but it went blue screen too.

Are my hdd and ssd in need of a reformat? or could it be my motherboard or something? this is so wierd
 
F8 seldomly works anymore,the boot process is way too fast for this,powering off the pc a couple of times while it is booting will bring up the recovery options by itself.
If it blue screens while trying to boot from the install dvd/usb then you won't be able to get into the install menu.
 

Versalin

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Mar 30, 2013
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Hi I tried getting into the recovery, but it actually crashes right when it goes into the recovery screen.

Seems like ther's something preventing me from loading anything windows related.
 

LukeFatwalker

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Dec 29, 2015
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Bingo! Your Boot Manager handles everything related to loading into Windows. If it's damaged or corrupted you won't be able to load into Windows.

You can try running Startup Repair, that will often fix the issue of repairing your Boot Manager. If not, you'll need to do a full re-formatting of the machine. Which will result in data loss so try running Startup Repair first.

Regardless, the tool you're using caused this. So you might want to replace it. Drive Cloner Rx works well for cloning a hard drive and is relatively inexpensive.
 

Versalin

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Mar 30, 2013
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I can't do start up repair. I reformatted my SSD, plugged it in. I even bought a new windows 10 installation disc. and it won't even let me boot from dvd drive!

seems like i can't do anything relating to windows at all. this is so wierd and frustrating
 

LukeFatwalker

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Dec 29, 2015
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Can you change the Boot Order?
 

Versalin

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Mar 30, 2013
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Hi I changed it but it still crashes.

I suspect its a problem with the PCIE slot for the graphics card because the debug LED kept lighting up on VGA when it was crashing. I moved the graphics card to an older motherboard and it ran fine.

I also tried inserting a different graphics card and I get the same problem. When I moved it to an old motherboard, it was able to run fine too.

So I suspect the problem is due to the motherboard not reading my graphics card properly, on both PCIE slots. That was probably why I kept crashing whenever I go into windows or windows recovery. What do you guys think? Should I return my motherboard or could it be something else?